Hunger
by Hina Kariachi Hakubi
Summary: Sure, he was still hungry, but... (Hints of Levinstar)


So, I had a dream last night. A dream that Colleen-TJ and I had managed to find a third, yes a _third_, person writing Levinstar fics online.

I was so hurt to wake up and find it wasn't true that I immediately ran to my computer and typed this.

So for now we're breaking away from my preferred 'slice of life' sort of fics. But don't worry, we'll be returning to my normal comedic scenes shortly.

Disclaimer: I do not own the show. Trust me. If I did you'd know by now.

**11*11*11***

God, but he was hungry.

With a practiced skill he reached out to draw the energy from a pair of birds outside the open window, though his eyes were glued to the computer screen. They weren't enough of course, and so he immediately turned to the sandwiches always kept within his reach. It had been for so long that he didn't really eat food. Before, he had done just fine subsisting on the local girls; he'd had no need to bother with regular groceries. Then…

Well, after what had been so lovingly related to him as the 'You're a Fucking Shithole' Incident, discreetly feeding off people simply hadn't been as easy as it had been before. He'd tried going back to solid food to curb his hunger but…

Well, have you ever puked up an entire pizza at once? It wasn't a pretty or pleasant experience. He hadn't tried to continue after that, instead taking the energy of any animal he came across and any sentient that made themselves an easy target.

As much as he'd been trying not to starve, he'd also wanted to avoid detection for as long as possible. There were only so many times he felt he'd be able to escape law enforcement and he'd always had a plan to get his looks back and get at Gwen. Because that would get his life back on track.

Not that any of them had worked. He'd always managed to screw things up. Biting off more than he could chew, ignoring a depowered Kevin (it was the Gwen situation all over again, how had he not seen it coming?), being indiscreet after taking in Ultimate Kevin's shed power, not remembering that damn woman's name! Really, it was amazing he'd only been to the Null Void once, which was quite enough, thank you, and he was fairly certain it was only because he was pitied.

Of course, he'd been right.

Then, then there had been his latest attempt.

Word on the street had been that trusted black market dealer Kevin Levin had broken up with, quote a Lepidopterran who had been forced to find another supplier when the brunet had moved, 'that goody-good skank', and so was back in town. The plan had seemed perfect at first, Kevin had access to just about anything a hideous and hungry vampire could ever want, was easily manipulated if you handled him right, and would have been in a more delicate state following losing his beloved Anodite.

How little he had known. Apparently the break-up had been of the 'scream and fight and take a tire iron to their car' sort, leaving Kevin, not with a broken heart as he had expected, but a seething anger, along with a need to hit something and a hunger of his own. Imagine Michael's surprise when, as he'd walked up to the other teen, Kevin in one fell swoop tore off his mask, fed off him, and popped him in the teeth.

The following fight had actually been very even. The only real advantage the villain had ever had over Kevin was a level head and range and now Kevin had range. Not that either of them used it, Kevin had made sure to keep close quarters to the vampire, taking full advantage of their equal strength. He'd even begun eating the blasts Michael did manage to get off! Thanked him for the trick! Things quickly devolved into pure brawl, two super strong teenage boys soon mutually letting off steam in what had to be the _least_ mentally sound manner.

They ended up collapsed not far apart. A rather cliché situation Michael thought, but what else could you do when you were hungry, tired, and both pretty sure some bones were broken? There had been some halfhearted taunts, insults, even a few very small well-hidden compliments, before they'd fallen into a bizarrely comfortable silence. Then his stomach had audibly complained, and with nobody daring to so much as approach their little Ground Zero. Kevin, somehow a good person, had tossed him a granola bar, which had been promptly tossed back. He'd flippantly noted his, disagreements, with solid food in response to the returned glare and been surprised at the result.

He'd suggested peanut butter.

The mild shock must have shown on his face, because the hybrid had then gone into an explanation of how peanut butter was very easily digestible, mild on the stomach, highly nutritious, and had enough fats and proteins to keep you going, making it the perfect food to get him eating solids again. He had never even considered it. He'd put all his time and energy into finding prey and ways to get back to normal, the idea that he could reacclimate to actual food hadn't even occurred to him. A major oversight on his part, but he blamed hunger and stress.

He'd given it a shot, starting with small amounts as suggested, and been amazed to find he could keep it down. Of course, he'd still been hungry, but he'd been _less_ hungry, and he hadn't had to do any actual work for it. It had been a pleasant surprise, and he'd decided to pass it on by tracking down his enemy and thanking him, as well as asking for any more advice he had to give.

Taking a large bite and scrolling down the page, Michael had to admit that things were better. Yes, he was still always hungry, but it was usually only a dull ache instead of the grand roar he'd gotten used to. Plus, there was always food at hand, Kevin made sure of that. All he'd had to do was swear off sentients. All right, so it hadn't been something he'd _wanted_ to do but that was the price for the hero's help and support. It really was worth it.

He was getting his looks back.

Honestly, he'd expected Kevin to laugh when he walked in on the mutant admiring his reflection. There hadn't really been anything worth seeing, he was still hideous, but he was so much less hideous than he had been that he'd stood there for upwards of a half hour preening over it. It hadn't taken any plots, any deals, any hunting, just a damn good diet and some potshots. But Kevin hadn't laughed. He'd wrapped an arm around the other teen, told him he was looking good, said that his body was getting the chance to put energy into self-repair now, and then gone to make himself some coffee.

Really, it all made sense. Kevin had pitied him, hated him but pitied him, because he'd been in a similar place. He'd also gotten out of a similar place, so he knew all the little tricks. They were similar, overall, and it became more apparent the more time they spent together. Kevin hadn't even tried to get him to stop plotting world domination, acknowledging that guys like them were going to have those criminal drives.

"As long as you can figure out how to do it without eating people, and do it in a way that I won't have to kick your ass, we'll be fine."

It was astounding.

Of course, he still _wanted_ to eat people, but he was having so much success with this method that it seemed counter productive, and he truly didn't want to disappoint the hybrid. Still, he knew this wouldn't last. He always fucked things up when they started going well, from crossing the Tennysons when he'd been doing fine to forgetting key details in his plans, it was inevitable. It was something Kevin couldn't help him with, citing that he had the same problem and still fucked everything up himself, and the brunet had openly admitted that, as much as he was getting to like him, he couldn't be trusted. He was honestly, unhappily but honestly, waiting for the other shoe to drop. They agreed on it.

Sighing, he continued to scroll. Yes, things were going to go to shit at some point, but for now, they were good. He's was getting more attractive and less hungry by the day, he and Kevin had become something resembling friends and, though he wasn't going to truly admit it, something was starting to bubble below the surface. For now, he was just going to enjoy himself and try to plan something that wouldn't ruin everything.

.

.

**11*11*11***

You guys know the drill; review, critique, make Levinstar shit I'm begging you, yadda yadda, yakkity smakkity, the usual.

Hope you enjoyed, buh-bye!


End file.
